Im new and i have questions

[Jeff M]

My words about tuning were based on there being talks over the years of personal chip tuning, and that were brought back up here (see next quote) so thought it was a good time to bring it up and elaborate on it again, hoping it would help.

 

<snip/edited> It took like 3-4 years before getting all that straight (vacuum leaks fixed etc JM), and I know if you try to build a custom chip for a car that has any leaks in the lines aint gonna be shit, and total waist of time. Mine was fuel cutting (big jolts at WOT) all the way up until I got the tinyest leaks taken care of. Jeffs chip is great to have if you are interested in actually restoring the drivability of the car. THEN you want to go with a fine tune chip for your car if its not enough to get into the 13s. Trust me, I was totally impressed with the way I sunk back into the seat after FINALLY getting all the kinks worked out, and now it only gets better for me when I have a reliable platform to bolt on power adders with peace of mind.

 

anyone can geek around with chips and crap, Its a whole nother game restoring a TGP in that condition (yours is in perfect condition to be restored!!!!). I can tell you where I think the ponies are locked up if you keep asking lots of questions.

 

 

 

And to reply further on that, but first to reply to this:

 

yeah! make a ton more power with that old 150 k motor and experiment on it with chips and lets see if we can blow it up like the majority of the people I seen here the last few years, then we can have more rebuild topics and pics of LG5 internals and grenaded blocks to gawk at! I cant wait

 

 

Garrett, it might not be shown here on the boards but there are some guys that have been into working on personal chip tuning now for several years, and like anything, you get good after a while if you stay with it, keep an open mind, read all you can and never assume too much, so ease up on a general statement of personal tuners ready to blow up motors .

 

We got some pretty savvy guys out there, and some new ones that had better know at least as much as our savvy tuners to be laying claim to fine tuning chips, that is a whole nother level of tuning, that I always test the waters by asking this question to those getting there? (yet to get anyone to answer it): When doing heads and/or cam and/or turbo and you are now adding more air into the engine (not boost, more air), you of course add more fuel to match the added air BUT, do you add more spark advance to allow time for this larger mass of fuel and air to burn relative to proper piston location, or do you reduce the timing since the cylinder fill will be great with a higher VE? And to avoid the few that like to start flames or have massive egos, I was asked that same question by a very avid chip tuner who was testing me, and I did not get ticked off by his question, I am humble enough and comfortable enough with my self to not be so easily bothered by someone trying to keep me in check with such a question. That is one of the best questions out there to see if you know enough about engines and not so much how to change chip values and read gauges, it’s the engine’s dynamics going on and what effects are occurring and what to look for that is the hardest to learn and be good enough at or any bolt-ons or tuning done will not turn out very well.

 

Engine dynamics is the kicker more than any amount of chip tuning software or gauges out there, when I see cars from top tuners/builders such as Lingenfelter, Hennessey, Livernois, MTI, Accufab and others show up in national car mag articles with problems blamed on tuning that still needs to be done before the car shown will be for-sale to the public, it has to make you realize its not an easy task to be great at all this work. When I do read the books that explain the engine and how it works, then books that explain the effects of tuning there is always the points made in there that companies like Hypertech and Superchips sell nothing more than chips with colder stats and a few tweaks in the fuel and timing, not a lot more than that and not much gains either, I mean its not like the OEMs are going to leave out a lot of extra untapped power since it’s a world war the power level of a cars for-sale these days!

 

Turbo cars do afford more power tweaks than your average NA car but there are limits too, but with a limited run like the TGP/TSTE there are no big companies out there that will waste the time needed to get even their small gains into a chip let alone one that has had the time spent really working on it, custom chips done right come at a very high premium and for a reason, the guy doing the tuning if he is that good has earned sort of an honorary doctorate in engine tuning and his time is not cheap, add to that the amount of time he would need to test and tune till he has 90-95% of all power tapped from an engine setup and you can be into some serious cash, anyone that has taken their engine to an EMIC station will tell you this, and the DFI EMS (engine management system) they use is setup to be very easy to work with where as an OEM EMS is way more complicated. Alright alright, enough, later.

 

Jeff M

[skalor]

yeah! make a ton more power with that old 150 k motor and experiment on it with chips and lets see if we can blow it up like the majority of the people I seen here the last few years, then we can have more rebuild topics and pics of LG5 internals and grenaded blocks to gawk at! I cant wait

 

Show me all the people that have blown engine in the last few years.

[Garrett Powered]

I dont know, me almost. I got a new TV cable and it solved it. I didnt mean I want peoples motor to blow up, I want them restored before.... never mind, do what it takes to keep it on the road and worry about extra ponies later. but if you are good enough build the hell out of some hybrid motor and test it on the track. thats what I think everyone wants to see.

[TGPnewb]

hey Gerrett i would love some of those washers and definatly some of that "reflect a cool" PM me

i need new O2 sensors so if someone could tell me what would run the best in this engine i would be gratefull.

i need new vacume lines asswell so if ya could tell me how much it would take and what kind i would apreciate it.

i was thinking of doin the ac mod for the intercooler. i was also tinking of doin what Gerrett did with his filter and i need a tube i was wondering where i could get one and how long it needs to be and what filter would be best down there because mine is kinda skrewd lol

 

how much for a better cam???

 

Thanks to all

[Garrett Powered]

I got my old prototype CAI made from a prebent 90 I got from a local parts store. Its got an extra coupling though because its 2 seperate bends just clamped together. one guy just used a factory flexible "bubble" coupling and just pointed it down. that would work good for temporary use, but my friend can weld up and grind down a nice one with a re-circ fitting on there. just a matter of finding a few more mandrel bends and I need your little "?" shaped tube fitting from the top of the valve cover to grind off one end and weld it on.

 

I used the ru-1390 K/N. I will PM you in a few days when I get more info.

[GutlessSupreme]

then we can have more rebuild topics and pics of LG5 internals and grenaded blocks to gawk at! I cant wait

 

how many here have actually blown motors?

 

lets see. I blew my TGP's because the fuel pump wiring had a short and shut off at 10 PSI.

 

My TSTE ate a camshaft which is probably the result of poor maintainance (oil changes) over its life, though it's happened to others as well.

 

My two problems were far from performance/power related.

 

Who else, exactly, has blown a motor in the past few years?

 

Don't everybody post at once

[TGPnewb]

what tube are u talking about??? if it has to do with the stock airbox... i dont have it anymore.

yeah PM me when u get the info

[TGPilot]

yeah! make a ton more power with that old 150 k motor and experiment on it with chips and lets see if we can blow it up like the majority of the people I seen here the last few years, then we can have more rebuild topics and pics of LG5 internals and grenaded blocks to gawk at! you other tuners should be thankful there is a good safe chip to go off of besides the stupid factory chip so then when the time comes their car will still be hanging in there and the owner doesnt prematurly blow their motor before the backup motor is ready. that can take years of saving and replacing parts AROUND the motor (if you can still get the parts)before its time to drop in the freshy. Hurry up and get the drivability parts, then if you get lucky like I did (less luck involved when you get a tg160 chip) then if thats not enough, upgrade and tune.

 

:lol: You have no idea half the shit you spew onto the computer screen when you type do you?

 

You talk a load of shit in defense of someone and then have no facts to back it up! YET AGAIN!

 

WOW dude I was trying so hard to give you a chance to prove you were not as ignorant to the LG5 platform as you seemed on the forums...but I do not think it is possible for you to do!

 

 

[Bossman429]

 

As for the Newb's questions:

 

I have heard that the OEM GM O2 sensor is the only way to go on TGP's. I have heard of people having runnability problems running Bosch, and the other knock offs. I think a GM sensor runs ~$60? I haven't bought one though, so I'm not sure.

 

As for the vacuum lines, I just bought a spool of vacuum line at the parts store, I probably used 10 feet when all was said and done. I think I got the 5/64" size, but here's what I did on mine, that will explain what size to get.

The nipples on the various TGP vacuum accesories vary in size, you may notice that the wastegate can nipple is much larger than the cruise, or other vac accesories. What I did was take one of the factory hard lines off, cut the plastic line about 3 inches away from the factory nipple. Then go to the parts store and buy vac line that will fit tightly OVER the hard plastic line. This allows you to still use the factory GM vacuum ends, which are usually well sized to the nipple they fit on. I think I got 5/64" line, and it fit very snug over the plactic lines. I hope I am explaining this in a way people can understand. I basically replaced all of the plastic hard vac lines throughout the engine compartment, except I kept 3-4 inches of the hard line before the vac nipple connection, and slipped the rubber line over that 3-4 inches of plastic line. It would take a lot to make that leak. I didn't bother with zip ties or anything, running ~7 psi they probably aren't going to blow off, but you can zip tie them if you want the security. I've been driving my TSTE like this for 2 years, and have never had an issue.

 

So you said your air isn't blowing out of the vents? Is it blowing out of the defrost then? Every 90's GM I have seen with a vacuum leak will blow out whatever the HVAC is set to until you get on the throttle, I.E. less vacuum, then the vents will blow from the defrost, rather than what it is set to. I don't know if it is a designed safety feature, or just by accident, but in the rain, or cold, the defrost would be your most critical HVAC feature to have.

^ If those are the symptoms you are having, then you probably have a broken vacuum line somewhere. the most common spot is the line that goes under the battery to the vaccum ball/canister under the drivers front fender. The battery acid likes to eat them up on GMs, not just W-bodies, my Beretta caught a case of it too. I spent time pulling the HVAC controls out thinking that was the problem, that was back when I was young and dumb.

 

Good luck!

[Garrett Powered]

yeah! make a ton more power with that old 150 k motor and experiment on it with chips and lets see if we can blow it up like the majority of the people I seen here the last few years, then we can have more rebuild topics and pics of LG5 internals and grenaded blocks to gawk at! you other tuners should be thankful there is a good safe chip to go off of besides the stupid factory chip so then when the time comes their car will still be hanging in there and the owner doesnt prematurly blow their motor before the backup motor is ready. that can take years of saving and replacing parts AROUND the motor (if you can still get the parts)before its time to drop in the freshy. Hurry up and get the drivability parts, then if you get lucky like I did (less luck involved when you get a tg160 chip) then if thats not enough, upgrade and tune.

 

:lol: You have no idea half the shit you spew onto the computer screen when you type do you?

 

You talk a load of shit in defense of someone and then have no facts to back it up! YET AGAIN!

 

WOW dude I was trying so hard to give you a chance to prove you were not as ignorant to the LG5 platform as you seemed on the forums...but I do not think it is possible for you to do!

 

 

keep trying

[Garrett Powered]

 

As for the Newb's questions:

 

I have heard that the OEM GM O2 sensor is the only way to go on TGP's. I have heard of people having runnability problems running Bosch, and the other knock offs. I think a GM sensor runs ~$60? I haven't bought one though, so I'm not sure.

 

As for the vacuum lines, I just bought a spool of vacuum line at the parts store, I probably used 10 feet when all was said and done. I think I got the 5/64" size, but here's what I did on mine, that will explain what size to get.

The nipples on the various TGP vacuum accesories vary in size, you may notice that the wastegate can nipple is much larger than the cruise, or other vac accesories. What I did was take one of the factory hard lines off, cut the plastic line about 3 inches away from the factory nipple. Then go to the parts store and buy vac line that will fit tightly OVER the hard plastic line. This allows you to still use the factory GM vacuum ends, which are usually well sized to the nipple they fit on. I think I got 5/64" line, and it fit very snug over the plactic lines. I hope I am explaining this in a way people can understand. I basically replaced all of the plastic hard vac lines throughout the engine compartment, except I kept 3-4 inches of the hard line before the vac nipple connection, and slipped the rubber line over that 3-4 inches of plastic line. It would take a lot to make that leak. I didn't bother with zip ties or anything, running ~7 psi they probably aren't going to blow off, but you can zip tie them if you want the security. I've been driving my TSTE like this for 2 years, and have never had an issue.

 

So you said your air isn't blowing out of the vents? Is it blowing out of the defrost then? Every 90's GM I have seen with a vacuum leak will blow out whatever the HVAC is set to until you get on the throttle, I.E. less vacuum, then the vents will blow from the defrost, rather than what it is set to. I don't know if it is a designed safety feature, or just by accident, but in the rain, or cold, the defrost would be your most critical HVAC feature to have.

^ If those are the symptoms you are having, then you probably have a broken vacuum line somewhere. the most common spot is the line that goes under the battery to the vaccum ball/canister under the drivers front fender. The battery acid likes to eat them up on GMs, not just W-bodies, my Beretta caught a case of it too. I spent time pulling the HVAC controls out thinking that was the problem, that was back when I was young and dumb.

 

Good luck!

well, ya aint young no more

[Jeff M]

I spent time pulling the HVAC controls out thinking that was the problem, that was back when I was young and dumb.

 

Good luck!

well, ya aint young no more

 

But we's think you are?

 

Jeff M

[skalor]

I spent time pulling the HVAC controls out thinking that was the problem, that was back when I was young and dumb.

 

Good luck!

well, ya aint young no more

 

But we's think you are?

 

Jeff M

 

X 2

[TGPnewb]

is there a type of vacume line that is better than the origanal like braided or somthing that holds up to the heat better?

oh hurry up with the Prices for the goods Gerrett...im getting anxious i must gett some more airflow to the filter and into the engine so i dont feel like im gasping for air and get stomped by civics in the 90mph area

lol its never happend but i feel like it might lol. i pushed my throttel againts a mercadies 200class or something and beat it off the line but he started to slowly creep up on me when we were in the high speeds...i didnt say that but it was over so...i win

 

hey what about lockers of limited slip diffs for this car...does it have one i noticed the inside tire spins alot

HEY HOW LOUD IS THE CAR WITH OUT A CAT AND MUFFLERS???? I NEED TO KNOW STAT

 

thanks all

[Jeff M]

Dude, you are way too much excitement for me to handle Keep the love for your car though, just kidding you, we all had some level of it when we first got ours, and most of us still have quite a bit after many years, at least until they offer something newer that does all the things the TGP does with looks etc , still waiting. Quit wasting time looking to replace the most important vacuum lines of all/the Throttle Body setup with pieces and get stock........it lasted 16 years at this point so how much better do you think something else will be I would sell you this and some other parts you need as well as a chip but not sure you have settled down enough to make decisions yet, so for now here is the GM part number ("fetch your part, you better watch who you are talking to" old saying wonder if anyone remembers or if they are more into Tokyo Drift ) 10114903 at any GM dealer or on line, you go fetch your part . And you are not chipped if some 200 class benz started to gain on you.....uh do you know how to check the chip?.....pull off the cover to the ECM and look at the blue memcal to see if it has anything hand written on the chip in the window/hole of that blue thingy Takes a 10mm wrench and a 1/4 driver to get to the chip, that's it , better start to learn to turn a wrench if you plan to own any used car!

 

Jeff M

[TGPnewb]

Woot i have a tg 160...oh wait ..i have the worlds slowest TGP...damn

shit now what do i do?

maybe if i get some engine cleaner i can loose like 50lb of the car its so nasty

 

maybe ill just save up and find another car to buy

[Garrett Powered]

Woot i have a tg 160...oh wait ..i have the worlds slowest TGP...damn

shit now what do i do?

maybe if i get some engine cleaner i can loose like 50lb of the car its so nasty

 

maybe ill just save up and find another car to buy

 

I just bought another car.

[SleeperRed90TGp]

then we can have more rebuild topics and pics of LG5 internals and grenaded blocks to gawk at! I cant wait

 

how many here have actually blown motors?

 

lets see. I blew my TGP's because the fuel pump wiring had a short and shut off at 10 PSI.

 

My TSTE ate a camshaft which is probably the result of poor maintainance (oil changes) over its life, though it's happened to others as well.

 

My two problems were far from performance/power related.

 

Who else, exactly, has blown a motor in the past few years?

 

Don't everybody post at once

 

Well I've only melted three pistons, bent two rods ruined 1 crank and one block had to be sleved and ruined 2 or 3 cams. Thats all. Of course none was my fault. Never have gernaded a motor, well that is in the TGP. If your going to play with fire prepare to get burned. I do mean fire not just matches. :lol:

 

Jud

[TGPnewb]

hey guys havent herd from yall in a while

i have a few questions

first off i would love to know how loud this car is whith out and mufflers or a cc

i am planing to do womething with my exhaust with in the next week or so and if this car is to loud all the time im gonna need some mufflers but if it is good crusing but loud when u step on it then it will be fine. i need to know thanks

 

secondly i would like to know about the tranny in this car i would love to do a 5 speed swap but i dont know enought to really do one and finding a junk yard with an american car in it around here might be imposible

also is ther anything i could do when i get my tranny rebuilt? like to handle more power maybe a shift kit womething that doesnt rob as much pwer and allows me to get rid of a tourqe limiter lol porlly not possible huh?

 

oh yeah now how bout them stock exhaust manifolds are there any headers for this car or something better that stock with out a whole hell of alot of mods this woud be nice

 

thank all of ya

[Garrett Powered]

for you, motor mount=shift kit.

[TGPnewb]

what really huh. well what do u guys think my tranny runs great sometimes...then it will stick in a gear or downshift really hard. mayve the tranny and motar arent alliegned properly cuse the tranny fliuid looks great. but if i take off from the line and feel the front learch up and the back aquat the tranny does good just randomly it will be like floored and the power isnt there and its like goin 40 41 402 then downshift and takes off like a bat out of hell!

help help lol i need to know and besides how much does the average rebuild of a tranny cost and is it worth it or maybe a 5 speed swap.. but ill ned help on that one.

 

thanks to all

[GutlessSupreme]

-there are currently no headers available for these cars

 

-your motor and tranny ARE "aligned properly"

 

-your motor and/or tranny mount(s) are probably shot

 

-if someone can host a few videos, I'll let your hear a TGP with no mufflers

 

-you're going to have a tough time finding a shop that will properly rebuild your tranny. And when you do find one, it won't be cheap. ~$2-2.5k.

 

-check the front of your tranny. There should be a vacumm line that goes from the front of the plenum, right to the left of the throttle body, and goes down the side of the motor to a port on the front of the tranny. There should be a three-way check valve that connects the line to the tranny port. make sure the valve is in place. one end of it will just dump out into the engine bay, there's not supposed to be anything connected to it.

[TGPnewb]

i allready checked it .... and well nothing was wrong lol so i think my second gear is starting to go... so im gonna have to eventaully replace it and well if its 2-2.5 k im not going that rout. and if and when the time comes im gonna need a 5-speed to swap but there prolly wont be any neer me

well lol and lots of help

 

what do u need in order to host a video? i really need to hear a sound clip lol

is anyone making or trying to make headers? what do yall do bout the stock manifolds?

 

thanks

[Garrett Powered]

well, I never thought Id say it in public, but Aamco did a pretty tough tranny for me, I ran too much torque through the OD gear and took out overdrive but other than running way too hot one day with no valence on the front and snapping a band aamco is your best bet I didnt just say that

[TGPilot]

Slaamco is NEVER a person's best bet! Good thing you did not make that comment on my forum you would be BANNED!

 

If people would just put an aftermarket tranny cooler on their auto's it would save an aweful lot of trouble. $100 for a cooler or $2000 on a tranny....hmmmmm even a Burger Flipper at Micky D's can afford that!